Recent technological and design advancements in the home standby generator market have made one of the best home purchases to prepare for the unexpected more affordable than ever.

September is National Preparedness Month, sponsored by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). All month long, GE Generator Systems — a coalition member of FEMA’s Ready campaign — is educating the public about the importance of home and emergency preparedness.

“Perhaps one of the best ways for a home owner to safely and comfortably endure an unexpected emergency — and the extended power outage that may result — is by installing a standby generator system,” said Amanda Grandy, marketing manager for Briggs & Stratton (BGG), the exclusive licensee of GE Generator Systems.

Standby generators automatically turn on when a home’s utility power is interrupted and provide backup power to run a household’s large appliances. Common home appliances operated by a home standby generator include air conditioners, heaters, refrigerators, electric stoves, clothes washers/dryers and lights.

“Advancements by GE Generator Systems have made some generator units smarter, so homeowners require a smaller home generator to power their entire home,” Grandy said. “This has created more affordable backup power solutions.”

Power management systems, including GE Generator Systems Symphony® II, manage a home’s power needs automatically during a power outage by controlling electrical loads in the home.

Here’s how the Symphony II® power management system works: Upon professional generator installation, the appliances in a home are prioritized. When a power outage occurs, a home will automatically move from utility power to backup power generated from the home standby generator. The power management system then automatically sends electricity the highest priority appliances until the generator reaches its maximum load capacity. If a higher priority appliance should need more power, the system will electronically limit the lowest priority appliances until enough power is available to restore the higher priority appliance.

By controlling a home’s electrical loads, this power management system gives homeowners a true whole-house power solution with a smaller, more affordable generator. This power management system even communicate over a home’s existing power lines, which means less wiring and usually leads to lower standby generator installation costs.

“Our smarter, smaller standby generators have financing options available for homeowners to further lessen the financial impact,” Grandy said. “These advancements are making the only true home preparedness solution more affordable for a larger population segment than ever before.”

To learn more about how a standby generator can prepare a home for an emergency power outage or where one can be purchased, visit www.gegenerators.com.

About Briggs & Stratton Corporation

Briggs & Stratton Corporation (NYSE: BGG), headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is the world’s largest producer of gasoline engines for outdoor power equipment. Its wholly owned subsidiaries include North America’s number one marketer of portable generators and pressure washers, and it is a leading designer, manufacturer and marketer of lawn and garden and turf care through its Simplicity®, Snapper®, Ferris®, Murray®, Branco® and Victa® brands. Briggs & Stratton products are designed, manufactured, marketed and serviced in over 100 countries on six continents.

About GE

GE (NYSE: GE) works on things that matter. The best people and the best technologies taking on the toughest challenges. Finding solutions in energy, health and home, transportation and finance. Building, powering, moving and curing the world. Not just imagining. Doing. GE works. For more information, visit the company's website at www.ge.com.